a gift
by minachandler
Summary: Set at the end of LOT 2x07. Iris joins Barry and Oliver for drinks, and the three of them end up sharing more than they anticipated.


BARRY: To things not being normal.

OLIVER (lifting his bottle): To life being full.

IRIS (appearing from behind Oliver and grabbing Barry's beer): I could drink to that.

(She takes a sip and then kisses Barry in greeting before sitting on the stool next to him.)

BARRY: Hey, babe.

OLIVER: Hi, Iris.

IRIS (smiling slightly nervously): Hi, Oliver.

BARRY (shaking his head in exasperation): So you got my message?

IRIS: Yeah, just took me a while to get here because everything was going crazy over at CCPN.

OLIVER: I can imagine the paper has you doing the headline story on the aliens.

IRIS: Yeah, actually. My boss said I'm the expert ion all things impossible. Plus -

(She puts her hand on BARRY's chest.)

IRIS: I have an in with the Flash, you know.

(IRIS and OLIVER share a smile.)

OLIVER (getting to his feet and looking at BARRY pointedly): You wouldn't have for much longer if Barry had his way.

(BARRY glares at OLIVER and IRIS raises her eyebrows in question.)

OLIVER: Another round?

IRIS: I'll have a shot of vodka, please.

OLIVER (grinning): Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm going to give you two a minute, okay?

(He walks down the bar to the bartender.)

IRIS (folding her arms): So do you have something you want to tell me, Barry?

(BARRY doesn't say anything at first. Then IRIS swats him on his bicep.)

BARRY: Ow.

IRIS: Barry, come on. Ollie wouldn't leave us to talk if there wasn't some bomb to be dropped on me.

BARRY: You know he doesn't really like being called Ollie unless it's me or a select few others.

IRIS: Barry -

BARRY: Just… I was going to do something stupid, and I was talked out of it.

IRIS: What were you going to do?

BARRY: The Dominators were here because of me. I brought them here when I decided to change the timeline. And they - they wanted me to hand myself over or they would destroy all metahumans on earth.

IRIS: Don't tell me you were thinking of handing yourself over -

BARRY: I was ready to. To - pay my penance. For everything I've done, Iris, it was the least I could do.

IRIS (shaking her head, completely nonplussed): And what? You weren't even going to say goodbye?

BARRY: I told Felicity to tell you I'm sorry -

(IRIS hits him on the arm again, harder this time.)

IRIS: Seriously? You were about to hand yourself over to _aliens_ to save the world and I got a goodbye by _proxy_?

BARRY: I know it wasn't ideal, but -

IRIS: But nothing! You were going to leave me here to go and be the hero, Bear, which is bad enough on its own, and you couldn't even say goodbye to me?

BARRY (shaking his head): It's not that. I - I just knew if I saw you again I'd never be able to leave. So I just told Felicity to tell you...

IRIS (softening a bit): Tell me what?

BARRY: You know what.

(IRIS lifts her hand to BARRY's cheek, looking like she's about to say something, when OLIVER returns bearing drinks.)

OLIVER: Sorry, I'm not - interrupting, am I?

IRIS: No, you're not.

BARRY: You're fine, Ollie.

IRIS: Are you okay, Oliver?

OLIVER: Yeah. Just… I'm still not sure what to make of the dream world the Dominators put us in.

BARRY (explaining): The Dominators put Oliver, Dig, Thea, Sara and Ray in a sort of - shared hallucination.

IRIS (downing her vodka): Sounds trippy.

BARRY: You never really told me what happened in that world, Ollie. Aside from the fact that it was a world where you never got on the Queen's Gambit.

OLIVER: You really want to know?

BARRY: I told you about Flashpoint.

OLIVER: I… uh, it was - different. My parents were alive - so was Laurel. We were engaged to be married, actually.

IRIS: Laurel Lance?

OLIVER: Yeah. Which is… far more than I deserved, to be honest. _She_ was far more than I deserved. And I don't know. In its own way, I know it was meant to be a prison, but for me… it was a gift.

IRIS (softly): I get that.

BARRY: I do too. More than most.

OLIVER: I miss her.

IRIS (sympathetically): I can only imagine.

OLIVER: It makes me wonder what could have been for me. For us. If I was better to her.

(The three of them pause, none of them speaking for a minute as they all consider their own drinks.)

BARRY: I'm going to hit the men's room, guys. Be right back.

OLIVER: So, Iris, I… just wanted to say - I'm glad Barry has you.

IRIS: I'm glad I have him.

OLIVER: Two years ago I told him that things weren't going to work out for you two. That guys like us - in this life - should just let the girl go.

IRIS: That doesn't sound like the best advice.

OLIVER: No, it wasn't. And the last two years, and especially the last twenty-four hours, have given me a lot of - perspective. It's made me realise how lucky Barry is to have you. And that you two should hold on to what you have because it really is a gift.

IRIS: Are we talking about me and Barry or you and Laurel here?

OLIVER (shaking his head): Barry - whatever mistakes he's made… he deserves to be with you. I never had that with Laurel. And she always deserved better.

IRIS: You're still a good person, Oliver.

OLIVER: You think so?

IRIS: I know so. Barry looks up to you. A lot. You may be Star City's hero now, but you were Barry's hero first.

OLIVER: Thank you. I appreciate that.

IRIS: Anytime.

OLIVER: And about him wanting to turn himself over to the Dominators -

IRIS: I suppose I have you to thank for that.

OLIVER: More Cisco and the rest of the team than me, really.

IRIS: Still. I think Bear has a long way to go before he realises sacrificing himself isn't the answer to the mistakes he's made.

OLIVER: No, I think he gets it now. He needs to stop beating himself up over everything.

IRIS: Like the newspaper article.

OLIVER: You know about that?

IRIS: Let's just say… he's more honest with me than he used to be. Which is saying a lot.

OLIVER: This life… it's complicated. I never told Laurel the truth about me, either. She figured it out for herself. Or - someone told her, and she worked out the rest on her own.

IRIS: I met her once, you know. She was in Central City visiting her mom, apparently, and the Black Canary was in town that night too… and she came to Star Labs to visit Cisco.

OLIVER: Yeah, they were good friends. You two would have gotten along, I think. You… from what Barry's told me about you, you have a lot in common with her.

IRIS: Thank you.

(BARRY returns and he steals IRIS's drink for a moment, causing IRIS to make a face at him.)

BARRY: I meant what I said, Ollie. We should do this more often.

IRIS: Hopefully next time it'll be under better circumstances. But Barry's right. It's been good getting to know you, Oliver. You're… different from what I expected.

OLIVER (chuckling): How do you mean?

IRIS: I mean… I don't know. I didn't expect you to be so - relatable, I guess.

BARRY: He's not, usually.

(OLIVER punches BARRY playfully on the shoulder.)

BARRY: Hey!

IRIS (teasingly): We love you really, Bear.

OLIVER (unexpectedly): We do, actually.

(The scene ends with the three of them leaving the bar, IRIS and BARRY hand in hand, OLIVER's hand loosely on BARRY's shoulder. They laugh at something OLIVER says just before they begin to say their goodbyes, and then to everyone's surprise, out of nowhere, OLIVER hugs BARRY and pats IRIS's arm before getting on his motorbike and speeding off. BARRY and IRIS watch him go, still hand in hand, before making their way along the moonlit path home.)


End file.
